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Has anyone, other than at least one member who has it as part of their VR name, heard of the legend of the Wendigo? It is a legend from the Algonquin Indians from Canada. I am bringing it up as I saw a fiction program a few days ago on TV about a man eating human flesh and becoming possessed by the spirit creature, Wendigo and was curious what others knew. I remember references long ago in Marvel comics, also.

Wikipedia has an article about it. CLiCK HERE

Thanks :)

i belong the legend because being a wiccan i study myths and legend of old and all of them a revals
around each other.

Yes, have heard of them:

According to the lore, the Wendigo is created whenever a human resorts to cannibalism to survive. In years past, such a practice was possible, although still rare, as many of the tribes and settlers in the region were cut off by the bitter snows and ice of the north woods. Unfortunately, eating another person to survive was sometimes resorted to and thus, the legend of the Wendigo was created.

*cited from http://www.prairieghosts.com/wendigo.html

Unfortunately I can not remember where I originally heard the legend, several years ago I believe. I had almost completely forgotten it until recently. I started to have dreams with Wendigos in them. The word wendigo would be repeated several times and the dream described them just as the legend does. To refresh my memory & try to figure out my dreams, I began to research them. The information on the them is much smaller than on vampires, witches, werewolves. However there is a good bit of decent information out there to be found.

Thank you for your responses as they have given me other directions in which to look. I look forward to additional facets on this topic. There have been mention of mixing Bigfoot and Wendigo legends into a common legend. Also relating the Wendigo to greed and gluttony as a cause for possession of a human host.

Yesterday there was a murder on a Gray Hound bus in Canada in which the assailant was videotaped eating part of the victim. Unusual timing in that it was one day after the TV program. I wonder could they be related in a copycat way.

I have seen that on other's profiles, but thought nothing of it, or knew that it meant something for that matter. Thank you for the link, I'll have to check it out.

I've heard of them before, but just on the tv show Charmed. That perspective is when someones heart becomes so cold they turn into a beast and feed off the hearts of others or something.

The Greyhound incident was a passenger that began to hack the person seated next to them, finally ending by decapitating them. There was no mention of cannibalism (last I read). The passengers got off the bus, the driver disabled the bus and everyone held the door shut until the police came to the scene. they were apprehended after breaking the bus window and attempting to jump out. The body of the victim nor the assailant were identified (I read about this Thursday -- a lot can happen since then...) However, no relation to Wendigo.

There was a follow up article on the Gray Hound murder today. The police videotaped some . Good evidence. I did not get to read the article just caught headline at work.

Correction, audio taped police communications. LINK

I thought this was an Urban Legend about a giant snow bird that swoops down and picks people off the ground and eats them in mid air. There is a story about it in the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" series.

I read it in a book called scary stories.. It is about a old ancient Indian lore that if the wind calls your name that in the middle of the night you will be swept away..I do not rightly get it but i have heard the name before..

I'd heard of it before, never really looked into it. Now that I read that article though, it kind of reminds me of a shapeshifter...With less transformation.

Yes have hear a couple of storys about others eating the flesh of others and turning into wendigo I say there alot more into the story then that but alas that the only piece I know

I have heard of the Wendigo before. I remember hearing that this creature from the north around the Canada area. I have a book that all kinds of information about the supernatural.

The CW show Supernatural actually had a show where the creature they were chasing was the Wendigo. I believe that was the working title of that episode as well.

This is just what I've heard so please bare with me... I never said that any of it was right. lol

Wendigo (aka- the great cannibal). Somewhat of a werewolf god.... Depending on the being, he can either live like a werewolf without the "demon" or the drive to kill OR he can BECOME the great demon that kills for his own pleasure. I've also heard that if a wendigo bites and kills a human while still in human form, that person's body will "disappear" turning into a sort of "ghost wolf" that watches and protects the land from unwanted visitors. They're supposed to serve the wendigo and this being will live until another kills him to take his place....

again, it's just what I've heard.... never said it was right. lol

I have never heard of a wendigo until now, but I was thinking could Jeffery Dahmer have been possessed by one?
I will have to do some reading on this.
Thanks for the link.

Wendigo is linked to Native American sulture as well....loosely based on shape shifting shamons and the Bigfoot legends as well.Supernatrual did an episode on the Wendigo...and I believe The X-Files did an episode as well.Marvel Comics has a character that is a Wendigo...who is part of a team set in Canada....Alpha Flight.


I have read many stories on Wendigos...non internet stories.

I have heard of this before, and darknesswhispers it's strange that you would mention dreaming of the wendigo before...because I have heard that one way of becoming a wendigo is by dreaming of it. I have also heard that after someone consumes human flesh they will become a wendigo. I have read that even in times of hardship cannibalism was viewed as taboo among the Algonquian culture even in times of hardship...so the wendigo legend could be seen as a cautionary tale against cannibalism.

well Wendigo that is caused by cannibelism is not completly true because it cannot be proven i mean look at hannibel and he's not possed yet he ate countless people*

I had heard of the wendigo before but what from had heard it was similar to big foot or the yeti.

While the story of the Wendigo may not necessarily be true, that doesn't mean it was never used as a cautionary tale, like I stated in my previous post. All cultures have different myths and legends, and all of these stories have some sort of meaning to them. Maybe the thought of cannibalism was so, I don't know...evil to these people that they thought you'd actually be posessed by a demon if you ever resorted to eating human flesh, then again it could have just been a story that was told in order to prevent the actual act of cannibalism from happening.

Hannibal Lector is a character in a book...Wendigo is from legends and myths in the real world.

Well, I just watched an episode on NBC online, of Fear Itself, where they do one on the Wendingo. It was such a creepy episode! But a good one. It talks about it being an Indian legend about getting into people that are angry and it just takes over.......and eats human flesh.

I remember first hearing about it when i was younger.. Scared me for days. Then i saw it again on Tv and it got me looking back into it.. Great stuff really.

I also saw it on a tv show called True but Strange.. or was it the other way around who knows..

the first & only time i have ever heard of a wendigo was on charmed when piper turned into one... dunno how true their theory on it was though...

I have heard of the indian ledgend of the Wendigo and a few others. I feel you will only believe in something if you open your mind up to the possiblities of something / anything. my opinion. I feel they are real ...

I'd actually like to see some proof insofar as to their existance.

I had never heard of this before but upon reading up on the informational links it seems to be a myth like many others created by cultures to stop their people from doing something that they consider taboo or immoral.

in werewolf the apocalypse role playing game!
wendigo is depicted as a totem spirit!
for a tribe of werewolves with the same name!
there is a movie also by the same title!
and about every form of information I have gotten!
it dictates wendigo as a spirit of cannibalism!
by native americans!
to which is considered empowerment for the strong
and feast on the weak!

yeah I heard of a wendigo there hearts are like ice and the one only they can be destryoes is by fire to the heart

i was told the story of wendigo when i was young from my aunt. and ever since canibalism has scared mei cant evan watch hanibal with out getting creeped out and thats good move i hate when the guy eats his own brain

I have herd of the Wendigo it is a Indian legend.

I agree with petal, I have also stated why I believe the way I do in one of my previous posts. But my question is, if any of you believe in this legend...where do you think you could possibly see one? Or do you think that any one has been posessed by the wendigo recently?

http://www.pararesearchers.org/Cryptozoology/wendigo/wendigo.html

I have heard of them . But do not know alot about this Myth.

I also have heard about it but dont know much about it.

no i havent, but i might read it when i get the chance, thanks for the info!

wow i hav a few friends on here that have wendigo in there name i never thought anything of it really but now that i read about it i think i was told about it when i was younger

So what the myth is basically stating that if you act like Hannibal Lecter you get possessed by spirits?

I can believe that. If you kill a human and consume their flesh they are bound to be pissed.

Not act like Lector..resort to eating human flesh to survive and in turn become a Wendigo.

"If you kill a human and consume their flesh they are bound to be pissed"
The legend says that you are possesed by the wendigo or that you turn into a wendigo...you're not necessarily posessed by the spirit of the human who's flesh you consumed.

The Wendigo is older then native american and gose way back to the stories of Beowulf .In wich he fought one I wont get in to the story.All so wendigos have been in mentioned in some fictions.Charmed had an episode were one of the sisters was turnd to a wendigo.
and the movie Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning (2004).

I've heard of it, however I also count WendigoSaint as a friend. I know only what he's told me, all of which has already been stated.

The Wendigo.. the spirit of anger.. rage.. and hunger… I was told by the elders that I have a Wendigo spirit in me… because I was born out of chaos.. . But it’s a darkness I have learned to suppress…

yea I remember that episode of supernatural. But they were in Colorado not Canada. WEll I am sure the show is filmed in Canada but it was taken place in Colorado. Many tv shows take a lot of their stories from folk lore and legends mostly of the ubran variety. So it does not surpise me that Supernatural did the same. But a lot of the first season of the show were based on lore and legend.

I don't know much about the windigo either except for what I have read on the internet. I native American lore where a person resorts to cannibalism and the consumption takes them over creating a human/Demon if you will. Other then this I do not know too much more.

also
according to the native american legend.
wendigo is a shapeshifting spirit!
altho in its true form!
it supposely has blue skin
black hair
long razor sharp black teeth and claws
and eyes dark as night!
its what I heard anyway!
lol

I am sorry but that is a scary legend no matter who you are.. But do you think that is was made up to scary little Indian children?

I've heard of the Wendigo legend but I've never known what it entailed. It makes sense that when someone eats human flesh, that spirit goes into the person who ate the flesh. Thank you for sharing this info my covenmate!

Lmao, I only heard about a Wendigo from Charmed...and they describe it as something totally different!

-Juggalette givin MMFWCL

UnderVampsGaze -

I don't believe it was necessarily made up to scare little indian children, but maybe it was made up to keep them from doing something like resorting to cannibalism. I guess it would scare them, but I think it was probably told to keep people from resorting to such extreme measures.

Yes, it is scary legend and like most legends was used to warn or to teach. The Bible lists foods not eat as they are unclean. This was a warning that had religious and in modern times health repercussions. :)

Also, I guess it was used to scare them. I mean, a good way to keep someone from doing something is to scare them, or to make up some horrible reason as to why they shouldn't do it. ALthough...all legends had to come from somewhere, and they all had to have some reason for being created.

legend?.... the wendigo is very real... it touches us in our sleep.. stains the spirit.. feeds off our fears and nightmares... it's ok not to believe in it.. might be better off that way... but, like I said, some of us have been tainted... and like a recovering drug addict.. we cope the best we can....

I heard of a another myth concerning the Wendigo legend.
there was this great and powerful warrior back in ancient native American history.
who was consumed with a bloodlust so big he turned on his own people.
as the legend goes
he was cursed to become representation of the tribes totem spirit!
however
this did not seem to go well
since it gave him more power
and he killed the rest of his people
for glory and hunger!
this is supposedly the first myth about the Wendigo coming into the Phyiscal world.

The one I read about is about a spirit called Jumlin.
And that myth if it is is about the creation of the vampire but never heard of the wendigo one how ever the way you explaind it both stories are simular heres the link.
http://www.geocities.com/vampiricstudies/native.html

Here is a scary Wendigo episode on Fear Itself. It's creeeeeeeeepeeee.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/28862/fear-itself-skin-and-bones

This thread got me thinking about cannibalism in world history...the plane crash in the Andies...the Soccer team...they ate people that died in the crash...and the Donner Party in the North West U.S. they resorted to cannibalism to survive...but I suppose they didn't eat enough human flesh to change.

Taken from http://library.thinkquest.org/27979/html/animals.htm


The Windigo

Summary

The Windigo is a terrible spirit of cannibalism that haunts the Algonkian-speaking Indians of Canada that can take both physical and mental forms. It is a half-phantom, half-beast that lives in the forests and preys on human beings, especially children. It can also take the form of a mental disorder that causes its victim to become a zombie that performs acts of cannibalism.

Location

The Windigo is a creature of the Algonkian people, which including the Micmac, Montagnais-Naskapi, Algonkin, Ojibwa, Cree, and the Blackfoot. The tribes live on reserves in the Maritimes, the Northwest Territories, and the northern regions of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The Windigo haunts the forests and tundra in the triangular domain reaching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east, to the Rocky Mountains in the west, and to the Arctic Ocean to the north.

Description

There are many descriptions of the Windigo, but very few illustrations. The Windigo is the feared personification of both physical and spiritual famine. It can take the form of a half-phantom, half-beast that roams the forest, or a personality disorder or mental illness that causes its victim to become crazed and perform acts of cannibalism.

It can feast on flesh and blood, it can change shape at will, and it can scare its victims to death with a single look. It can strike such terror into a person that he would be rendered into a cannibalistic zombie void of all personality and individuality.

The Windigo has been described as an evil spirit, a ten-foot tall demon with an enormous head, gigantic teeth in a twisted mouth, beady eyes, and supernatural strength and speed. It moves faster than the human eye could follow, and can blend into the trees and winds. It may also be a human cannibal, for to come into the presence of an Windigo will trigger the transformation into one. To be bitten by one and to dream of one would also lead to the transformation. Unlike the transformation of vampires and werewolves, the curse of the Windigo is irreversible.

History

The name is derived from the Algonkian root word witiku, and means 'evil spirit' and 'cannibal'. Its pronunciation varies from tribe to tribe, as are its spelling, but 'Windigo' is the most common way, followed by 'Wendigo'. Other spellings include:

Weedigo, Weeghtako, Weeghteko, Weendago, Weendegoag, Weendigo, Weetego, Wee tee go, Weetigo, Wehndigo, Wehtigo, Wendago, Wendigo, Wenigo, Wentigo, Wentiko, Wetigo, Whit te co, Whittico, Wiendigo, Wihtigo, Wiitiko, Windago, Windagoe, Windagoo, Windego, Wi'ndigo, Windikouk, Wintego, Wintigo, Wi'ntsigo, Wintsigo, Wi'tigo, Witigo, Witiko, Wittako, Wittikka
The Windigo dates back to the earliest of Indian legends, where it is described as a phantom of hunger that stalks the forests, hunting for lone Indians to eat. It is a creature of the Algonkian people's experience and imagination. Its origin spawned from the fear and disgust of cannibalism. This act is seen to be so horrid that persons who commit it can only be explained by possession of a supernatural evil, for it is inconceivable that a healthy man, with full control of his mental facilities, will eat the flesh of his fellows by choice or by desire.

Like most legends, the Windigo is also an explanation for the unknown, an entity drawn from the depths of the dark and mysterious forests.

Interesting Facts

The Wendigo Trout

In 1954, fish-breeders, with the help of the Ontario Department of Lands and Forest, produced a hybrid by crossing the speckled trout with the lake trout in order to combat the damages done by sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. They named the new fish 'Splake', but others dubbed it the Wendigo Trout because they felt that the original name sounded too harsh. It is even more appropriate because the purpose of the new trout was to attack the sea lamprey, and cannibalize it.

I saw that episode on Fear itself it was creeepy..*makes spooky noise)

The only version of the Wendigo I know of is from Charmed. Every other information just makes it sound like another Bigfoot.

Here's the information from Charmed:

The Wendigo is a non-dead creature that roams the earth destroying the good- earted and those in love. His fate is to wander the Earth feasting on human hearts. The first Wendigo was a mortal who was betrayed by his sweetheart. In revenge for the treachery he slew his love and ate her heart. Rather than savor(ing) the warmth of revenge his heart
was in turn, turned to ice. During daylight hours and the phases of the moon, the Wendigo looks as you do
also: Beware the Wendigo on the three days of the full moon. To unbecome a Wendigo, you must kill the Wendigo that attacked you by melting it's heart of ice.

In the Charmed series, the wendigo was killed by being shot through the heart with a flare gun (which melted its heart of ice).

Charmed made up the origin of the Wendigo for the storyline they were doing that week.TV and Movies always change the myth or legend to suit their take on the story or idea.

i saw it on charmed but i have never heard anything about a native american legend, but I am not too fluent on them, i will look into it.